4-16
Tuesday we
drove to Houston and moved into a friend’s 5th wheel travel trailer
to have a place to stay while I had appointments at MD Anderson. Yesterday was
my first. It was basically just to let me know what I was in for today. Today I
checked into one of the clinics for a lung biopsy. This was to confirm that the
nodules that the PET and CAT scans had found were indeed from the original
cancer and not a new strain. I had been told before that it’s a 99% chance that
it would be. The biopsy went well I suppose. I say suppose because they gave me
some joy juice and after I got on the table I don’t remember anything until I
got to recovery. From what I had seen on a video that they showed me yesterday
they use a CT scan to position a biopsy needle into the nodule to take a
sample. The sample then goes to the lab and 3-5 working days later your doctor
has the answer. Hopefully that will be Tuesday when my next appointment is. I’ll
let y’all know what the results are when I get them.
4-17
All of the
people at MD are extremely nice. You just look a little lost and someone will
stop and ask you where you need to be and give you directions there. The
hospital is comprised of a ton of clinics scattered out over a sizeable part of
downtown Houston referred to by many as the medical district. I don’t know how
many hospitals there are here, but it’s quite a few. The clinic we were in
yesterday was connected to the main clinic by what they call a Skybridge. This
connects two buildings that for all intents and purposes are across the street
from each other. It’s almost 3/8 mile long and they have shuttles to take you
back and forth, which is great because after my procedure I doubt if I could
have walked that far without sitting and resting or maybe a nap.
Afterward, I
felt fine, just a little tired, an aftereffect of the joy juice. Later that
evening the biopsy site was sore. I learned to sit up as much as possible. Deep
breathing is also to be avoided for a few days. Today mild exertion still causes
a bit of pain.
So far I
feel that MD is giving me the absolute best care available. We have done quite
a bit of research on different clinics and MD Anderson comes out on top every
time. One well known clinic that does a huge amount of TV advertising seems to
only be interested in how much money you have or what kind of insurance. MD is
interested in you no matter what your situation is. Of course they need to be
paid like anyone else, but it’s not their first concern. They have both social
workers and financial aid help if you need it. The social workers can even help
you find local housing.
4-21
Today I saw
my oncologist and she confirmed that it was from the original site. The
official name is squamous cell carcinoma. After talking a bit, she asked how
soon I wanted to start chemo and if I was interested in taking part in a study
of a new medicine. I told her that I was ready to start when they were and yes
I was interested in any medicine that had a possibility of a cure. So that got
that ball rolling. It looks like I’ll be taking chemo for 18 weeks, 6 rounds of
3 week intervals that start tomorrow. The trial drug is a pill that you take
once a day. Of course you probably won’t ever know if you’re getting the drug
or not because it’s a blind study. Half of you get it and half get a placebo (
sugar pill ). They have warned me of the side effects and I guess this is one
time that you’re rooting to get the side effects. The drug has already proven
useful in other cancers, but our wonderful FDA can’t fast track anything that
might actually help someone. The IV chemo will be Carboplatin and Docetaxel.
The pill is Erlotinib. If anyone is interested in what each of these drugs do etc.
, contact me and I’ll let you know. I figure that very few people are actually
that interested in the actual drugs and would really only be interested to see
if any of it works. They have already prescribed anti-nausea meds for me in
anticipation of some of the side effects. I can only hope and pray that the
side effects are no worse than the first time.
I’m going to
post this now and I’ll try to do better in letting everyone know what’s going
on.
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